UHV finishes sixth in Jim West; Sam Houston wins event

By
jhornberg
April 4, 2012 at 12:04 a.m.Updated April 3, 2012 at 11:04 p.m.

Steven Jones credits his coming to Victoria to play golf to one man.

"Claud Jacobs," he said with satisfaction.

The benefactor of golf in the Crossroads has left his mark all over the place, including helping to recruit the former Tivy golfer with two trips to the UIL state tournament in his high school career to theJaguars golf team.

"I met him at the country club out in Kerrville two weeks before school started," the freshman for UHV said.

Jacobs introduced him to UHV coach Brian Williamson, he said, and from there he decided to sign on and join the team.

"He offered me a position on the team, and I took it," he said.

Jones didn't disappoint in his three days at the Jim West Intercollegiate at Victoria Country Club, shooting rounds of 71, 73 and 74 in the team's final warmup leading up to the AII Conference Tournament in two weeks.

He said it was his putter that kept him afloat through the event.

"I was making putts and looking at the hole," Jones said. "I wasn't worrying about it, I was hitting it, and if it went in, it went in; if it didn't, it didn't."

The Jaguars improved their score by four strokes, shooting an even par 288 on Tuesday, and got big contributions from seniors James Price and Cory Anderson, who both shot 1-under in the final round after struggling the previous two days.

They wrapped up the Jim West Intercollegiate in sixth place out of 12 teams, 8-over as a team for the tournament.

Williamson noted the progress of the team from where it was at the start of the season.

"They're going the right direction, they haven't peaked yet," Williamson said. "They're starting to play better, they're starting to play smarter, and they're definitely starting to listen.

"We're still making a few mistakes today; I believe we were 5- or 6-under with three to play, and finished even par."

Overall, Williamson is more than ecstatic with the result - one in which the Jaguars shot consistently, and got contributions from all five golfers.

"I'm doubly proud of them," he said with a grin.

SFA'S McLEROY WINS INDIVIDUAL TITLE

Stephen F. Austin's Mitchell McLeroy posted three rounds under par to take the individual title in the Jim West Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

He edged out hard-charging Garrett Driver of Sam Houston State, who came up one stroke off the Victoria Country Club course record with a round of 9-under 63.

What was working for the senior Bearkats' golfer?

"Everything," he said.

In particular, his second shots and chips were finding greens, followed up by strong putting.

Driver entered the day at 1-over, but his score was enough to vault him within one stroke of the winner McLeroy.

The course record, 62, was shot by Ryan Henry in 2010 at the NGA Hooters Tour event that year, on his way to a tournament win.

SAM HOUSTON WALKS AWAY WITH TOURNAMENT WIN

The Bearkats entered the tournament as the highest rated team in the GolfWeek/Sagarin rankings, and didn't disappoint at the end of the day.

The Bearkats had four of their five players at par or lower, and shot 14-under Tuesday to comfortably cruise to a the Jim West title over Stephen F. Austin (1-under for the event) and host team Texas State (1-over).

The Bearkats entered the day 1-over for the event, and very much fighting with the rest of the field, but strong rounds from Driver, Scott Kelly (3-under on Tuesday) and Jordan McColl (2-under on Tuesday) put some distance between them and the rest of the field.